Powder box



E. E. BRooKs May 3, 1932.

POWDER BOX Filed April 1o, 1929 Patented May 3,' 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'animar E. naooxs, or rumena; nssacnusnrrs, AssIGNoa 'ro DENNISON murac'runnm conm, or rnamennr, MASSACHUSETTS, a coaroaarron l' KASSLUEUSETTS Application led April 10.

This invention relates to containers formed of sheet material such as cardboard or heavy paper, and pertains more particularly to improvements inthe method of making powder Y boxes, or the like, and to the resulting product. v

In order economically to manufacture boxes adapted to contain finely divided material, such as powder, from such inexpensive 1o material as cardboard, it is usually desirable to assemble the boxy from two or more preformed sections or units, comprising a bottom compartment, a powder-holding member or drum adapted to fit within the bottom compartment, and preferabl a top member for covering the exposed en of the powder drum. In the completed article the powder compartment customarily has, cemented over its, outer end, an outer head or covering of thin paper which confines the powder within the drum until the powder is to be used by the purchaser, who may readily cut or break away the paper to expose the powder; and in practicing the resent invention this paper head is prefera lyapplied to the powder drum before the box elements are assembled.

Considerable diiliculty hasheretofore been experienced in devising an economical and satisfactory method of so sealing the powder drum within the bottom compartment or shell of the box as to revent the powder from sifting out of the ottom of the drum through the joints between the two members. This objectionable feature is especially diiiculti'to overcome when, as in the present case, it is desirable to reduce manufacturing costs to the minimum by the elimination of special sealing sheets or other separate closures at' the bottom of the drum.

It is accordingly the general purpose. of`

the present invention to provide a simple and economical way of preparing and assembling the component units of the powder box so that the inner end of the drum is adhesivel united to the bottom compartment in such a manner as effectively to prevent the filtration of loose powder through said joint. Important stepsin the attainment'of this 5 purpose include first coating the contacting -line 2-2of Fig. 1;

POWDER BOX 192s. `sel-m1 nu. 353.968.

surface of the bottom member with a normally non-tacky adhesive, prior to the assemblage of thebox parts and preferably during the formation of the bottom compartment; subsequently, preferably immediately before the application of the powder drum thereto, softening the non-tacky coat-l lng by heat, or by heat and moisture, as by exposmg the coated compartment to a blast of hot air or steam; and ther.` pressing the exposed edges of the powder-filled drum against said coated surfaces while the adhesive is in a soft and sticky condition. It has been found that this method of adhesively uniting the abutting faces of the two parts not only is superior in effectiveness andespecially in neatness to the ordinary modes of connecting box parts, but also affords substantial savings in the costof production by dispensing with the timeconsuming hand labor usually necessary in applying adhesives to the inner corners of the boxes.

Further objects of this inventionwill become apparent .as the improved process and its resulting product are more fullyexplained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying draw?v ings which show successive stages in the production of apowder box exemplif'ying a recommended embodiment of the invention; 50

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a lplan view of the bottom compartment or s ell of the improved box;

Fig. 2 is a section to larger scale taken on Fig. 3 is a perspective of the powder section drum; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the assembled shell'and drum in inverted position; and

Fig. 5 is a side view, partly in section, of the completed box equipped with a cover.

As suggested above, the component sections of the box are preferably constructed separatelyby the usual forming operations erformed by hand or by suitable machinery. or example, the bottom compartment Vor `shell (Figs. 1 and 2) may be shaped from a blank of cardboard to provide a bottom` 6 and upwardly bent sides 7, and may be covered on the'outside with an. adhesively l0@ applied layer of paper 8 which is preferably folded over the upper edges of the side walls, as at 9.

The inner surfaces of-the bottom and side walls, at least at the margins of the bottom and preferably over the entire exposed areas of said portions, are coated with an adhesive 10, such as a suitable vegetable or animal glue, which is substantially non-tacky when cold and which when heated or moistened becomes suiiiciently sticky to unite with other surfaces pressed into contact therewith. This adhesive may be applied to the blank before the compartment is folded into boxlike form and, owing to its non-tacky condition at normal room temperatures, the coating does not interfere withproper manipulation of the material to form lthe compartment or shell. v

For purposes which will later become apparent, grooves or recesses 11 are formed in the bottom 6 adjacent the sides 7 in the manner of a continuous trough surrounding said bottom. This marginal groove may conveniently be provided by aiiixing a cardboard sheet 12 upon thebottom 6, the size of the sheet or platform 12 preferably being such that the groove 11 closely receives the open end or edges of the powder drum. Obviously the raised platform 12 may be 1ntegral with the bottom 6, or the groove. 11 may be'formed by flanges or ribs upstanding from the bottom; and in case the powder drum has a marginal 'end wall surrounding a central opening, the widthv of the groove will be increaseda to accommodate said end Wall.

The powder section or drum (Fig. 3) preferably comprises cardboard sides 13 suitably jointed at the corners ofthe rectangular structure, and having ,a paper covering 14 applied over one edge and extending part Way along the inner and outer surfaces of the walls. The paper covered end of the drum is provided with an enclosing head preferably consisting of a thin, tearable strip of paper 15 which is adhesively affixed thereto; while the opposite end of the drum is uncovered or formed with a filling opening. As indicated above, the wall edges or margins at the open end of the drum are adapted toit Within the groove 11 of the bottom shell. This drum is substantially filled with powder through said open end before it is aixed to the shell.

Prior to the assembling of these two box elements and in order to render the cold adhesive coating sticky,- the coating is preferably exposed to moist heated air,= as by ejecting o steam into the shell. The coating may, however, be softened by heating thecardboard shell or the adhesive itselfby other suitable mediums. In such tacky condition, the shell is inverted and telescoped over the open end of the filled drum (Fig. 4) and the two parts are pressed together so that the adhesive coatign binds the end of the drum Within the roove 11 and preferably unites the contacting side Walls of the members. The drum is preferably of such depth that lits paper covered end projects beyond the upper edge of the shell so that, after inverting the assembled box members, a paper covered top section 16 may be removably applied thereto, as shown in Fig. 5. The manufacture of a powder. box in the manner herein described involves simple operations upon inexpensive materials, yet the article thereby produced is rigid and durable in'use, attractive and ornamental in appearance, and so constructed as effectively to prevent vthe objectionable sifting of powder through the joints between its assembled shell and drum components. The box4 may obviouslyv be fashioned in any appropriate size or shape and exteriorly ornamented as desired. It will also be understood that details of the process of manufacture or the structure of the product may b'e varied to suit particular purposes without departing from the essence of this invention as defined in the following claims. For example, the box sections may be molded with continuous walls in cylindrical or other desired shape; and, in many satisfactory forms of the improvedarticle, the marginal groove 11 may be omitted without sacrifice of operative efficiency.

I claim: Y

1. A method of making boxes for containing powder or the like, comprising forming a normally non-tacky, adhesive coating upon the interior bottom margins of a box shell, heating said coating to render it sticky, and pressing the open end of a powder containing drum into said shell and against the sticky coating.

2. A method of making boxes for containing powder or the like, comprising applying an adhesive which is non-tacky when cold and sticky when heated, to the box material so that the adhesive coats the meeting surfaces at the interior end of a formed box shell,

softening the cold coating by heat'to render drum into the shell and against thesticky coating.

4. A method of manufacturing boxes for.

containing powder or the like, comprisin coating portions of a blank ofsheet materia with an adhesive which is non-tacky at normal room temperature and which becomes sticky upon exposure to heat, forming the blank into an open-ended box shell while the coating is non-tacky, so that the coating eX- tends around the bottom margin and adjacent portions of the sides of the shell at the interior end thereof, directing a hot gaseous stream against the coating to render it sticky, and then inserting the open end of a preformed, owder-filled drum into the shell and against t e sticky coating.

Signed by me at Framingham, Massachusetts, this 6th day of April, 1929.

ERNEST BROOKS. 

